"More than a stunning debut. It is the announcement of a bold new literary voice"
—Stephen Chbosky, author of The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I’m not sure if you’ll understand this since you’re Japanese, but I’ll just assume that you can understand all languages up there. I remember first discovering you almost a year ago, it was when my favorite member of a boy group posted a picture of you on his Instagram account. He was a fan of yours. You caught my attention because of your pink hair, and at first, I thought you looked weird and awesome. Bit confusing, huh?

I was shocked to know that you were already gone when I searched for you on the internet. You died, 17 years ago. Yet you’re still remembered up to this very day. It hasn’t been long since I became a fan of yours and your band, X Japan, but I just want to say that you and your band have inspired me in so many ways. You inspired me to not care about what people think of my style, as you’ve said: “When people called me a freak, I closed my eyes and laughed, because they were blind to happiness.” You were known to have a weird style. Visual shock, as you called it.

After that, I started to watch your videos. And this one video really caught my attention: it was a video of you and a girl, Mayuko. I’m sure you guys are together now, up there. That one video made me look up to you, which made me a fan of yours. And made me think that yes, people really shouldn’t judge someone by how they look. If someone would take a look at you, they’d think that, “Ah, this one is a maniac.” but no. You’re so far away from that.

One more thing I like about you are the lyrics of your songs. They’re weird, yet beautiful. Just like you. You have a weird personality, and that’s what makes you so fun – so beautiful, in your own way.

It’s your birthday on the 13th, you’re going to be 51 now. I just want you to know that because of you, I’ve found another reason to keep on going. I want to be like you, to help people like you did. To make people happy like you did.

And one last thing: you’re still rocking us down here with your music. You will forever live in our hearts. Thank you so much.